Sweep of Drillers Complete After Extra-Inning Loss

Originally Published: Apr 10, 2010 9:16 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

TULSA, Oklahoma – The Tulsa Drillers’ losing streak to start the season continued Saturday, this time with a 4-3 loss to the Corpus Christi Hooks in extra innings to finish a series sweep.

With the Drillers (0-3) down by one going into the bottom of the ninth, Jeff Kindel led off with a solo home run to tie the game at three and force an extra frame. But the celebration did not last long.

German Duran led off the tenth with a double for the Corpus Christi (3-0), and after a walk and sacrifice bunt the Hooks had runners at second and third. Al Alburquerque followed with a wild pitch, which allowed Duran to score the eventual game-winning run. Alburquerque struck out the final two batters of the inning, but the damage was done.

The Drillers had one more chance to tie the game, but their first three batters went down in a row on only seven pitches. After blowing the save in the ninth inning, T.J. Burton received a win for shutting Tulsa down in the tenth. Alburquerque was credited with the loss.

Tulsa’s Brandon Durden turned in a strong starting pitching performance and did not surrender a run until the sixth inning. His work allowed Tulsa to take its first lead of the season in the fourth inning, when Kenny Perez led off with a home run.

The Hooks broke Durden’s shutout with back-to-back doubles by James Van Ostrand and Jack Shuck to tie the game 1-1. Durden exited after the seventh inning in favor of Stuart Pomeranz, who suffered through a rough eighth.

Pomeranz gave up a two-strike home run to Lou Santangelo to start the inning, then Henry Villar followed with a double. Wladimir Sutil drove him in with a single two batters later to give Corpus Christi a 3-1 lead.

Jason Van Kooten connected on an RBI triple in the bottom of the eight to Tulsa back within one, setting up Kindel’s homer in the ninth to force extra innings.

The Drillers have now started the season with three straight losses and have not yet won in the new ONEOK Field. They will have to recover quickly, as they begin a three-game series against the San Antonio Missions at 2:05 p.m. Sunday. The first 500 children ages 12 and under can eat free.